New Delhi: India has the world's highest number of people without access to clean water, according to a report.
The international charity organization Water Aid said that nearly 75.8 million Indians - or 5 percent of the country's 1.25 billion population - are forced to either buy water at high rates or use supplies that are contaminated with sewage or chemicals.
That accounts for more than a tenth of the 650 million people worldwide without clean water access - more than any single country in Africa or in China, where 63 million have no access to clean water.
According to the report, poor management of water resources is one of the biggest problems that result in such a deplorable situation. Further, laxity observed in the execution of water treatment projects adds on to the prevailing condition.
The situation worldwide has improved since 1990, with 2.6 billion people gaining access to clean water since then.
